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Interactions and Global States

Interactions let a template react to what happens while it plays, and global states are site-wide on/off values shared by every screen, template and publisher user in a site.

Interactions were introduced as an experimental feature earlier in 2026, global states arrived in the August 2026 release, and the September 2026 release made interactions available to everyone. Earlier release notes only mentioned them in passing, so this note describes both features in full.

Interactions​

Interactions replace the old trigger setup with a flow you build visually in Template Creator: an event—something happens—is linked to one or more actions—what should happen—and states remember a yes/no value in between. One event can start several actions, and the same action can be started by several events.

Build behaviour in Template Creator​

  • Interactions workspace — the Interactions button in the Template Creator toolbar opens a canvas with event nodes on the left and action nodes on the right. Drag nodes to arrange them, click an event's connector and then an action's connector to link them, and click a line to remove the link.
  • From the selected item — select an item that already takes part in an interaction and its properties panel shows the click events and show, hide and toggle actions tied to that item, with an Edit interactions shortcut to the full workspace.
  • Saved with the template — interactions are stored as part of the template and follow it wherever it is used, including in Smart Media created from it. Deleting an item from the template also removes the events and actions that referenced it.

Events you can react to​

  • On start — runs when the template starts playing. Use it to hide items that should appear later.
  • Click item — a touch or click on a chosen item in the template.
  • Key press — one or more keys, entered as characters or key codes separated by spaces. This works with keyboards, remotes and button boxes that send key presses to the player.
  • Inactivity — the screen has been idle for a chosen number of seconds. A typical use is returning a wayfinder to its start screen after visitors walk away.
  • State set to true/false — a local or global state changed value. This is how one flow hands over to the next.
  • Webhook — an existing webhook data source received a request. External systems can start a prepared flow on screen without any change to the template. Webhook data sources are created under Data sources as before.

Actions you can run​

  • Show, Hide and Toggle visibility of any item in the template.
  • Set state to true, Set state to false and Toggle state for a local or global state.
  • Predictable order — when one event starts several actions, they run in the order the action nodes are stacked on the canvas, from top to bottom. Follow-up events caused by a state change run after the current batch of actions has finished, so chained behaviour stays easy to follow.

Local states​

  • A local state is a named true/false value that belongs to one template and starts from its default value every time the template starts. Use it to remember whether a step has been completed, whether an overlay is open or whether a signal has already arrived.
  • States are managed from the States button at the bottom of the Interactions workspace. Deleting a state also removes the events and actions that used it.

Test in the preview​

  • When a template with interactions is previewed in Template Creator, an Interactions debug panel shows the running timers and the current value of every state, so you can follow what the template does while you click and type.
  • Global states are not available in the preview. The panel lists them separately and explains that the media must be scheduled or used as a screen layout to test them.

Permissions​

The Interactions button is shown to users whose profile has the Interactions permission in the Media section.

Global states​

A global state is a named true/false value that belongs to the site rather than to one template. All templates, Smart Media and screens in the site see the same value, and a change made anywhere is pushed to every connected player immediately. This replaces the global trigger setups that were previously needed for behaviour across screens.

Shared values across screens​

  • Change it from a screen — a template can set or toggle a global state through an action, so a button on one screen can change what another screen shows. A screen that changes a state reacts to it immediately, and every other screen in the site follows.
  • Change it from the publisher — users can switch a global state directly in the publisher, for example to open or close a queue, start a campaign on every screen or switch a building to evacuation mode.
  • Use it in Template Creator — the States dialog in the Interactions workspace lists the site's global states under Global states (this site). Click one to add it to the template, or create a new global state with an initial value. Local and global states are grouped separately when you pick a state for an event or action.
  • References, not copies — removing a global state from a template only removes the template's reference. The state itself stays in the site. A global state that has been deleted from the site is flagged in the template so you can repair the flow.

Manage global states in the publisher​

  • Global states page — under Management, the new Global states page lists every state in the site with its name, current value and when the value last changed. You can search by name and add new states with a chosen default value.
  • Switch a value — set a state to true or false from the row's menu. A confirmation explains that changing the value affects all interactivity nodes tied to the state in the connected resources.
  • Details panel — open a state to rename it, add an optional description and switch its value.
  • Live updates — when a screen or a template changes a global state, the list in the publisher updates without reloading the page.

Permissions​

Global states have their own permission group in user profiles: View, View detail view, Create, Edit and Delete. The default user profiles have been updated to include them.